A Pained Connection
by PrimaDonna24601
Summary: It's been five years since Sarah beat the Labyrinth. Soon, she's back in the world she never thought she'd see again. When a problem arises, will she and Jareth be able to find the one person who can help them overcome it? And will they be able to solve another problem within the goblin kingdom. The story is much better than the summary, I promise!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hi guys! So this is my second Labyrinth fanfic. I was thinking about Labyrinth and the idea for this fanfic came to me. Now, I'm still currently working on this, so I don't know how quickly I will be updating this. However, I've got some good ideas for where this story is going and also, one of my New Years Resolutions is to work on my stories, fanfics and otherwise, more. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this story and don't forget to R &R!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything, except for the plot. All rights belong to Jim Henson's estate.**

Sarah was walking when she felt a sharp pain. "Ah." She called out, grabbing her stomach, where she felt the pain coming from. The pain stopped almost as quickly as it started. Still, when it was gone, she went and sat over on the couch. She was sure glad that her family had gone away for the weekend to visit her stepmom's family. Karen had wanted her to come with them, but Sarah had declined. She had a few more college applications to fill out. Sarah smiled as she thought about her stepmom _._

 _In the last four years she and Karen had become closer. Ever since her trip to the labyrinth, Sarah had matured. Karen, of course, chalked up Sarah's sudden attitude change towards her to teenage hormones. Sarah knew the real reason. After almost losing her brother to the goblin king, Sarah had come to realize how childish and immature she had been. In fact, even Sarah knew she had been a brat. Now, she and Karen were a lot closer. Not a true mother daughter relationship, but more like an aunt niece relationship. Sarah had figured that that was as close as they would get to each other._

 _Sarah's relationship with Toby was much better now. Sarah was more loving to her brother. She liked taking care of him, most of the time. The few times she had not wanted to take care of him had been when she had plans with her friends. She still didn't have many friends, but she did have a few. Once in a while they would invite her to go out with them, usually to a movie or something like that. Karen was definitely fine with that and would get a babysitter to watch Toby. When she wasn't going out with her friends, Sarah would usually read a book to Toby or play games with him. Sometimes, if it was warm enough, she would take him to the park._

 _The only relationship that hadn't gotten better was the relationship that she had with her father. It hadn't gotten worse, per se, but as he was a very quiet and shy man, they never really talked much. He would occasionally ask how school was going, but that was about the extent of their relationship. Still, Sarah really didn't mind that much._

As Sarah sat on the couch, she suddenly felt another pain in her stomach. This one seemed to last a little bit longer and was more intense than the last one. Sarah decided to lie down on the couch to try and ease the pain. When the pain had passed, Sarah decided to get some medicine to help with the pain. As she was walking back to her bathroom, she was trying to think of what could be causing the pain. She knew it couldn't be her time of the month because it had only been last week when that had come and gone. Which also ruled out the possibility of pregnancy (which couldn't happen anyways because she was still a virgin). Just as Sarah reached the door to her bathroom, she felt another pain. This time, the pain was so intense that it caused her to fall to the floor. And as she hit her head on the floor, everything went black.

 **A/N: So what did you guys think? I hope you enjoyed it! I know it's kind of a short chapter, but I hope that the rest will be a little bit longer. As you can tell, I've got the next two chapters already posted, but please don't expect to get this many chapters at one time. I started going back to college last semester, so I most likely won't be very consistent in when I get a new chapter posted. Hopefully, I can get at least one chapter up a month after this. I'm only taking two classes this semester (last semester, I took four, but that was too much), but I'm also working a part time job, so I'll only be able to work on it whenever I've gotten my other school work done. Ok, I'm finished with my rambling.**


	2. Chapter 2

When Sarah awoke, she noticed that the carpet felt funny. In fact, it didn't feel like carpet at all. Actually, it felt more like a bed. But her bed didn't make her feel like she was on a cloud. And she had never owned sheets that felt like silk. As she opened her eyes, Sarah realized that she wasn't in the hallway at her house. In fact, she wasn't in any room in her house. Truth be told, she had no idea where she was. As she looked around, she realized that she was in a big bed. In fact, this bed was about the size of a king size bed. She then looked around the rest of the room. She saw one set of doors that looked like they led outside to a balcony. She saw a few more doors that led to different places. She also noticed a small fireplace, with a small desk placed near it. On the desk she noticed what looked like some stationary. And then she noticed a small collection of books. Just as she was trying to see what books were on the shelf, she heard a throat clear. When she turned towards the owner of the sound, she noticed a medium sized creature. On closer inspection, Sarah gasped.

"Hoggle, is that you?" She asked, hardly believing her eyes. She had never expected to see him or any of her other friends from the underground again.

"You's remember me?" The dwarf asked as Sarah started to get up. Suddenly, she felt a pain in her stomach. She had to lie back down in the bed. "You's alright, Sarah?" Hoggle asked, a look of concern on his face. "I'm fine, Hoggle. Just in a little bit of pain." In fact, she was in a lot of pain. It wasn't as bad as it had been before, but she still didn't feel that great. She just didn't want Hoggle to worry about her. She then decided to change the subject. "How could I forget you, Hoggle?" Sarah asked. It made her sad to think that her friends had thought that she would ever forget them.

Hoggle pulled out of the hug. "You hasn't called for us in a long time." He said, the change of subject clearly working.

Sarah felt the sting of Hoggle's words. He was right. She hadn't called for them in almost a year. She had become so busy with her senior year of high school that she really hadn't had much time alone. Still, she felt bad about not having taken a little bit of time to at least talk to her friends.

"I know. And I am so sorry for that." She said, hoping that her friend could forgive her.

"Aw, that's alright. At least you's here now. Even if it has been five years since you's called for us." Hoggle said.

"What do you mean five years? The last time I called on you was about a year ago." Sarah was confused. Why would Hoggle think it had been a lot longer? A thought then came to Sarah. "Maybe time runs differently here than it does in the Aboveground. That would explain why it's only been a year for me and five for you." Once they agreed that that was the reason, the friends caught up with each other. After about thirty minutes of catching up, Sarah realized that she had no idea how she had arrived there.

"Hoggle, do you know how I got here?" She asked the dwarf when he was finished telling a story about a pretty nasty fairy.

"All I knows is that that rascal Jareth wanted Hoggle to watch Sarah and to alert him when you'd waked up." Suddenly, Hoggle got a worried look on his face. "Uh oh, Hoggle better go let the king knows that you's up."

Before Sarah could say anything, Hoggle hurried off. Sarah was a little nervous; she hadn't seen the Goblin King since that day four years ago. She wondered if he had changed. Since he seemed to be immortal, she doubted that he had. She, on the other hand, had changed quite a lot. She had finally developed into a woman.

After what seemed like a long time, Hoggle finally returned. And standing behind him was the king of the goblins.

~o~

After what seemed like a long time of silence, Hoggle cleared his throat. "Um, Hoggle's has to go. See you later Sarah." Hoggle quickly left them alone.

Jareth looked at Sarah. In the time since she was here, she had changed from a girl to a woman. She was absolutely stunning.

"Hello Jareth." Sarah said. "Why did you bring me here?"

Jareth had expected this. "First, let me say, I wasn't the one who actually brought you here. The Labyrinth was the one who did." Just as Sarah started to open her mouth, Jareth continued. "I'm guessing that you've been a lot of pain. The reason I know is because I've been having the same pain. You see, when you beat The Labyrinth, you and I became connected to each other. And because we are connected, we can't be physically apart for more than a few years. That's why you were in pain right before you came here. Our connection to each other couldn't withstand such a physical separation. I'm surprised we were able to stay apart for as long as we did." Jareth wasn't sure if Sarah believed him or not. He let her process this new information. "Do you know of anyone who can help sever this connection or at least make it less painful? She finally asked. Jareth felt his heart break a little. While he didn't want to keep her here against her will, he had hoped that maybe she would want to stay. "I recently discovered that there is a sorcerer who lives far away, in the Eastern Mountains who may be able to help sever the connection. Unfortunately, no one has been able to survive the trek to those mountains. However, if you really want to sever this connection that has linked us together, I will be more than happy to honor your wish." In truth, that was the last thing he wanted to do, but if it made her happy, he would do it. "It will probably take us about a week to prepare for the trip. You never know what we'll encounter along the way. I hope you don't mind staying here for that long. Well, if you don't need anything else, I'll leave you alone."

Just as Jareth closed the door behind him, he began to feel a little pain in his stomach. And he noticed that the farther he walked, the worse it got. He then decided to try something. He decided to walk back towards Sarah's room. And as he did so, he noticed his pain was getting easier. He then realized what was happening. It seems that because Sarah had returned to the Underground, the connection had become stronger. Unfortunately, that meant that now, they could no longer be apart from each other. They would have to be around each other at all times, whether they wanted to be or not. Jareth knocked on Sarah's door. "Come in, Jareth." She said. "I guess we're going to be seeing a whole lot more of each other until we can get this connection severed." Jareth was glad that he didn't have to explain it to Sarah. Before anything else could be said, a goblin burst into the room. He was a short, stocky goblin, with a little hair on the top of his head. "Your majesty, His Royal Highness Prince Karim is here and said that he needs to speak with you immediately." The creature said. "Well, tell him that I'll…" Jareth stopped short of saying to meet him in his study when he thought about his predicament. "Tell him to meet me in here." The goblin bowed his head and went to get their guest. Jareth knew that if Karim had come here unannounced, something must be wrong.

After a few minutes, the goblin had returned with Karim. Karim looked exactly like Jareth, right down to the mismatched eyes.

"Hello, brother." Karim said. Jareth's brother then looked over towards Sarah. "Who is this lovely young lady?" He asked his brother as he strode over to her. He took her hand in his and placed a kiss on the back of it. Jareth bristled at this gesture. "This is Sarah Williams." He said. "Oh yes, the only person to have ever beat the Labyrinth." Karim already knew about what had happened and how it had affected Jareth in those twenty years since. Without another word, Karim turned back towards Jareth. "Jareth I have some bad news. Lavenia is back." When Jareth heard that name, he had to put a glass of water that he had just picked up back down on the table. "What does she want?" He asked his brother. "Revenge." Karim said.


	3. Chapter 3

Sarah wondered who this Lavenia person was. It was obvious that Jareth did not like hearing that name. His whole body had become rigid at hearing it.

"Who's Lavenia?" Was all she asked.

"No one you need to worry about." Jareth replied.

"What do you mean no one I need to worry about? You clearly don't like hearing that name and since we can't be apart from each other, you might as well go ahead and tell me because the way you reacted to the mention of the name makes me think that it takes priority over finding the sorcerer who can weaken our connection."

Karim spoke up before Jareth could say anything. "Since you finding the wiseman is of utmost importance, if you would like me to, I can watch over the kingdom, dear brother, while you and Miss Sarah go find the sorcerer. Lavenia always had a hard time telling the difference between you and me. And the goblins definitely wouldn't be able to. And, in answer to your question dear brother, if you remember, we were able to fool papa quite a few times, pretending to be one another."

Sarah hadn't heard Jareth ask him a question. She wondered if that meant that they could read each other's minds. It took Jareth a minute to reply. "If you're really up to the task, Karim, I'll let you pretend to be me. Just don't get killed. I'd hate for the goblins to think that they were seeing a ghost when I come back. It wouldn't be good for my image." Sarah couldn't help giggling.

~o~

It was decided that the story would be that Karim was visiting for a week and that he would be escorting Sarah back to the Aboveground at the end of said week. Only a few of the goblins knew what was actually going on (most goblins weren't very bright, but the few that were, worked for the goblin king). They also told Jareth's personal adviser and friend, Ahmed. Ahmed had been Jareth's adviser since he had become the goblin king 200 years ago.

The end of the week finally came and Sarah and Jareth were about as prepared as could be expected. Everything was in order and they were ready to go. They had no idea how long it would take them to reach the sorcerer. Because of Sarah, they would have to stop at night to sleep.

They left at daybreak. It took them half a day to reach the border of the Goblin City. Jareth decided that they needed to stop and rest before they started the next part of their journey that day. As they rested, Sarah started thinking about her family. Jareth had immediately sent a female goblin to take her place. When he first told her what he had done, Sarah couldn't understand why he had, but Jareth had quickly explained. Before he had sent the female goblin up to her family, the goblin had taken a potion. The potion had made the goblin look and sound like Sarah. Unfortunately, it couldn't make the goblin act like her. However, the potion made the creature appear to have mono so she wouldn't have to go anywhere. Sarah was glad that her college was on summer break and that she had decided not to take any summer classes.

Sarah noticed that there was a forest in front of them. While it looked like a normal forest, Sarah knew that in the Underground, nothing was as it seemed. After a few more minutes, Jareth turned to Sarah. "We need to get going. Before we do, though, I want to prepare you for what lies ahead. When we go through the Eastern Woods, we are going to feel like our worst nightmares are coming true. We'll want to run, but we need to stay together. No matter how much we want to run, we can't. Otherwise, we'll be completely separated and we'll never be able to make it out. Just hold my hand and keep reminding yourself that it's not real. I'll be doing the same." Sarah was surprised that Jareth had included himself. She had thought that the fae didn't have the same problems as mortals. She wondered if there were other traits that they had in common. "Are you ready?" Jareth asked her. Sarah slowly nodded her head. In truth, she was scared to death, but she wasn't about to admit that to the Goblin King. She just had to remember that none of what they were about to see was real.

When they reached the edge of the woods, Jareth offered Sarah his hand. She immediately took it. As soon as they took their first step into the woods, Sarah felt a sense of fear. As she looked to her right, she saw a nightmare that she remembered all to well.

 _It started out with her dog, Merlin, playing with Toby. They were playing like normal. Then, suddenly, Merlin turned towards her and came charging at her with a vicious look on his face. He then turned back to Toby with the same ferocity and started to attack Toby. Sarah tried to run to Toby to stop Merlin, but something was holding her back. When she looked to see what it was, she saw Jareth holding her hand and remembered that it wasn't real. Almost as soon as that nightmare had ended, another one began. This time it was about her mother, Linda. Sarah was visiting her mother in New York City. As they were leaving a coffee shop, a man came up to them and shot and killed her mother. He then pointed the same gun at Sarah. However, when he fired the gun at her, someone pulled her out of the way before the bullet could hit her. When she looked to see that it was Jareth, she again remembered where she was. Again, as soon as the nightmare ended, another nightmare began. This time, she didn't recognize it. She was standing beside someone. When she looked down at herself, she noticed that she was in a wedding dress and realized that she was at her own wedding. As she tried to look at the person, she realized she could not see their face. As they were saying their vows, the person suddenly fell down, with a dagger sticking in their back. As the man fell on the floor, she realized, with horror, who it was. It was Jareth. All she wanted to do was run away, just in case she was next. However, she felt someone holding her back, thinking that it was possibly the murderer. When she looked back at the person, she was shocked to see that it was herself. Then, she heard someone say her name. It was Jareth. But, he didn't sound like he was dying. In fact, it wasn't coming from the Jareth that she saw lying on the floor. It was coming from somewhere else. She then remembered where she was._

As she came back to reality, she realized that they were out of the woods. Still, the last dream had felt so real, that she was still shaking. She couldn't believe that they had made it. When she looked around, she noticed that it was almost dark. "We need to stop for the night. That shack over there looks abandoned. We can sleep there." Jareth said. Sarah quickly agreed. That last nightmare had really unnerved her.

~o~

They found that the door to the shack was boarded up. Sarah thought that they would have to find another place to sleep. Then, Jareth waved his hand in front of the door and the boards immediately fell off the door. Sarah was a little taken aback. However, she quickly recovered from her shock. When he opened the door, she was again shocked. Because of the boards on the door, Sarah had expected the shack to be run down inside. Instead, she found a perfectly pristine room. Everything about the shack looked warm and inviting. In fact, it looked more like a small cottage than a shack. It looked as if the room had been recently cleaned. Sarah quickly stepped back outside to make sure that she was indeed in the same place. Sure enough, she was looking at the same rundown shack that they had stepped into only moments ago. She slowly walked inside, trying to comprehend what had happened. How could it look so clean inside, but still look like a rundown shack on the outside? As if reading her thoughts, Jareth quickly explained. "It's one of the perks of being goblin king." He said. "I can magically clean up a room." "Then why do you need servants?" "Every time I use my magic, it zaps some of my energy. The bigger the magic, the more energy it zaps. And the more energy it zaps, the longer it takes for me to recover." "How long do you think it will take this time?" "Overnight should be enough." Sarah hoped he wouldn't have to use much more of his energy. They needed to find the sorcerer as quickly as possible. Suddenly, Sarah noticed her stomach rumbling. She hadn't realized how hungry she was. Apparently, Jareth heard her stomach rumble. "There's some food in the refrigerator and cabinets." "What kind of food?" "Whatever you want." She wanted to question him, but her stomach decided otherwise. She decided that she wanted fruit salad, a ham and cheese on whole wheat, and some iced sweet tea (she had learned to like the southern drink after going to college in North Carolina). When she opened the refrigerator, she found some of the ingredients she needed. She then looked in the cabinets, half expecting them to be empty. Of course, they were filled with exactly what she needed. Then without even asking Jareth, she looked in the drawers for utensils. Sure enough, they held the exact utensils that she needed. She then began assembling her supper.

When the tea was finally ready, she poured herself a cup and went over to the table to eat her meal. She then looked over at Jareth. "Are you hungry? Or do Fae even get hungry?" "No and not often." Was his reply. "Would you like to come sit beside me?" Sarah asked, patting the other side of the table. Without saying another word, Jareth walked over and sat across from Sarah.

At first, neither said anything. Jareth finally decided to break the silence. "So how's young Tobias?" He asked. "Toby? Oh, he's been good. He'll be starting kindergarten soon." "Does he remember anything about his time here?" "I'm not sure. It wouldn't surprise me if he remembers at least a little bit. He's really smart. If he does, he hasn't said anything to my dad or Karen, his mom." She told him. Sarah felt a little sad at the thought of Toby. She didn't know if she would ever get to see him again. Even though she would like to, something told her that she wasn't going to see her baby brother again.

~o~

After Sarah had finished her meal, she began to feel tired. "You should rest, we have a long journey ahead of us tomorrow." Jareth told her. Sarah nodded her head in agreement and stood up to take her dishes over to the sink. She then quickly washed them up. When she was finished, she went over to the bed and laid down (she hadn't brought any night clothes with her as she wanted as light a load as possible for her journey). As soon as her head hit the pillow, she was out.

 **A/N: So, what do you guys think? I hope you've really enjoyed it! Please let me know what you think. I was going to wait until I had finished this story before I posted it, but with the death of David Bowie, I thought I would go ahead and post it before I finished it. Now, I will admit that while I do have I general idea of how this story is going to go, I don't know exactly what's going to happen. I'm the type of writer who never plans out my stories. I guess you could say that I "write by the seat of my pants," if you know what I mean. Anyways, I've just begun writing chapter four and with school starting back up last week, I don't know when I'll get it finished up and posted, even if I only go to school 3 days a week. Anyways, don't forget to tell me what you think! Thanks!**


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